Democratic state Sen. Tom Sherman of Rye exploring a run for governor
Feb. 15—CONCORD — Two-term state Sen. Tom Sherman of Rye said he's formed an exploratory committee and will decide in the coming weeks whether to make a Democratic primary run for governor.
"Today, I'm taking the first step towards running for governor. We must unite our state, end the divisiveness, and heal from the last few years," Sherman, 64, said in a brief statement Tuesday afternoon. "I look forward to talking with folks all across the state over the next few weeks."
For months, Democratic leaders had identified Sherman as the one most likely to run for the corner office in 2022.
The Union Leader has also confirmed former Stonyfield Yogurt CEO Gary Hirshberg of Concord is weighing his own Democratic campaign to try to unseat Gov. Chris Sununu, a three-term Republican.
Hirshberg, 67, hasn't done any media interviews, but he has reached out to party activists to express an interest and has told them he will make his decision soon as well.
A gastroenterologist, Sherman became a leading legislator who commented on the state's COVID-19 response.'
At times, Sherman praised Sununu's work but said once the state of emergency ended in June 2021, Sununu failed to lead and allowed cases to dramatically increase.
If Sherman runs, he'll no doubt argue Sununu in six years has failed to do enough about the state's pressing problems: protection of abortion rights, expanding mental health capacity, permanent aid to public schools and clean drinking water protections.
A Darien, Conn., native, Sherman was medical staff president and board president of Fauquier Hospital in Virginia and a member of the American Board of Internal Medicine.
He graduated from the University of Connecticut Medical School in 1987.
Fought to expand Medicaid
Sherman served three terms in the House and played a major role in the state implementing Medicaid Expansion, an option under Obamacare that was signed into law by then-Gov. Maggie Hassan in 2014.
He was involved in the licensing reform of hospital technicians that grew out of a deadly outbreak of Hepatitis C at Exeter Hospital.
While in the Senate, Sherman was past chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee and took the lead on investigating a cluster of rare cancers on the Seacoast.
Elliot Gault, executive director of the Republican State Committee, evoked the same attack at Sherman that Sununu lodged at 2020 Democratic nominee Dan Feltes, formerly of Concord.
Sununu had labeled an "income tax" a paid family and medical leave bill he had twice vetoed that Feltes and Sherman championed.
The plan offered as one option a deduction from employee wages to pay for that benefit.
"Good luck with that. Income-tax sponsor Tom Sherman will just be the latest in a long line of failed Democratic gubernatorial candidates that the Democrats put forward in their doomed quest to unseat America's most popular Governor — Chris Sununu," Gault said in a statement.
Sherman repeatedly has said he's opposed to a broad-based sales or income tax.
During Hirshberg's tenure, Stonyfield had significant growth by blending the firm's social, environmental and financial missions. He arranged the sale to Danone in 2001 but stayed on as CEO for an additional decade.
He remains Stonyfield's chair under its successor owner, Lactalis.
Both Sherman and Hirshberg are among the party's best fund-raisers.
Sherman set records, raising more than $200,000 in both his Senate elections and over the past six months he raised more money than any current officeholder including Sununu.
Hirshberg's prowess as a party fundraiser has made him a frequent Democrat named as a possible candidate, including when John Lynch retired as governor in 2012.
In the late 1990s, the liberal Hirshberg created a political action committee that helped elect and support enough lawmakers to pass separate income tax bills in the New Hampshire House of Representatives and Senate.
Then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, stopped that movement in its tracks by vowing to veto an income tax if it got to her desk.
Both bills died before getting that far.
